British prisons are full. So saturated that Rishi Sunak’s government is reduced to extreme measures. On Monday October 16, the Minister for Justice, Alex Chalk, announced that thousands of people detained in England and Wales sentenced to less than four years of incarceration would be released eighteen days before the end of their sentences . The government will also propose a bill so that thousands of Britons can serve their sentences in establishments abroad and has promised to speed up the expulsions of convicted dual nationals.
Finally, he assured that the government wanted to favor community service instead of short sentences (less than one year). A proposal already made by conservative justice ministers Ken Clarke, in 2010, and David Gauke, in 2019, but abandoned each time.
The early release measure “will not apply to any person convicted of aggravated violence, sexual crime or terrorism. (…) We will not take measures that endanger the security of the British,” insisted Mr. Chalk, who promised that at the same time, people convicted of the most serious crimes will no longer benefit from reduced sentences. “The worst criminals, the murderers, the rapists will be imprisoned for as long as possible. There will no longer be any question of those responsible for hate crimes being released after having served only two thirds of their sentence,” said the minister.
This article is originally published on lemonde.fr
